American Pharoah, the solid brown bay colt and odds-on favorite who sprinted away with the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, won the Belmont Stakes on Sunday with a smooth, wire-to-wire run, becoming the first Triple crown winner in 37 years.

Many have come close — American Pharoah trainer Bob Baffert has had three previous shots and never got one — but none have won all three stakes races since Affirmed in 1978. He joins an elite club that includes Secretariat (1973), Citation (1948) and Seattle Slew (1977).

With 43-year-old jockey Victor Espinoza aboard, American Pharoah broke clean from the gate and went ahead on the rail, leading the seven other horses through the sweeping first turn, with Materiality and Mubtaahij staying close down the back stretch.

They kept the pressure on, but Espinoza saved plenty of horse for the end, calmly peeking behind at the second- and third-place horses as American Pharoah began to kick away. He urged his mount with a light whip down the final stretch but didn't need it — history was already several lengths ahead and adding distance.

The official margin of victory was 5 and 1/2 lengths, one of the most decisive Belmont wins at the 1.5 mile run in Elmont, New York (but nothing like Secretariat's 31-length victory in '73, cementing the freak of nature as perhaps the greatest thoroughbred of all time).

"It's just unbelievable how things work out," a breathless Espinoza said immediately after the race. "It's an amazing horse. He was so much more confident coming into this race."

American Pharoah is the 12th winner of the Triple Crown, which used to be a more common feat when thoroughbred racing was less specialized and most horses ran all three races. That just makes American Pharoah's win all the more impressive, as he easily beat many fresh mounts in each of his three wins.

Baffert, easily the top trainer in today's thoroughbred game, downplayed his role in his first Triple Crown win: "I just feel like I have a great horse. It wasn't me — it was the horse."

Bred in Kentucky by his Egyptian owner Ahmed Zayat, American Pharoah was jaunty and confident before the start of the race, and apparently jumped backward a step as the gates swung open, according to Espinoza. That didn't set him back a bit, however, as he bolted ahead early and never looked back.

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